Year in Review: In his second season with the Reds, Cueto made strides to improve off a solid rookie campaign. In ’09, Cueto pitched 171.1 innings in Cincinnati, striking out 132 and walking 61. He also won 11 games on a sub-.500 Reds team. Cueto showed signs of improving his game, walking hitters at a lower rate, allowing fewer home runs, and getting more ground balls. However, his strikeouts dropped in the process, curbing the value that his lowered WHIP and ERA provided. Cueto’s improvements may not have shown up in his fantasy numbers, but his fastball and slider improved according to his pitch f/x data and run value statistics. His change-up’s movement improved, but its value dropped a couple of runs compared to his 2008 numbers.

The Year Ahead: The Reds are one of the better defensive teams out there, helping clean up mistakes made by Cueto. It looks like his lowered strikeout rate may have been a fluke, so don’t worry too much on that front going into your drafts. His added control is real, as is his improved home-run and ground-ball rates, and continued improvement in those areas isn’t out of the question. While he isn’t anything special anymore, he has good stuff and a good defense behind him, likely keeping his ERA in the low 4.00s. The Reds aren’t likely to give him a huge amount of run support, but double-digit wins are still likely. Going into his third season, Cueto isn’t a sleeper or prospect anymore, so you should realize what you’re getting into before drafting him. (Zach Sanders)

Profile: Johnny Cueto has improved dramatically every season since his 2008 debut, decreasing his ERA and WHIP each year (4.81 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 2008, 3.64 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 2010). The season-by-season improvement is further heightened by the consistent league-average BABIP Cueto has put up, suggesting that Cueto’s improvements are more ability-related than luck-related. A closer look at Cueto’s rate statistics reveals that he has improved his walk rate and home-run rate every season toward a decent 2.71 BB/9 and 0.92 HR/9 in 2010. Add all of this to the fact that Cueto had 30+ starts and 170+ innings pitched in each of the past three seasons and you have a consistent and effective starter who has shown improvement and “earned” his sleeper status. Pencil him in for 175 IP, 3.80 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and 140 strikeouts. Good, not great, but useful for any fantasy-team rotation considering the upside. Cueto will be 25 years old come Opening Day. (Albert Lyu)

The Quick Opinion: Cueto has improved dramatically since his 2008 debut, posting a 3.64 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 2010. He has improved his walk and HR-allowed rates every season, and has consistently pitched 170+ innings with 130+ Ks.

Profile: Cueto wasn’t able to answer the bell at the start or end of the season, but he was marvelous at all points in between, as he once again lowered his ERA. Among pitchers who tossed at least 150 innings, his 2.31 ERA was second only to Clayton Kershaw, and while he wasn’t as good by advanced metrics, his 3.45 FIP placed him in the top third (31st of 107). One of the reasons for his muted upside is that his strikeout rate continues to drop, but last season he compensated by generating far more ground balls than he ever had before. As a result, Cueto is now a guy who you can trust to pitch in the wind tunnel that is Great American Ballpark, which ups his value. Cueto probably won’t post a sub-2.50 ERA again this year, but even with an ERA in the mid-3’s, he should still be a valuable member of your rotation. (Paul Swydan)

The Quick Opinion: Cueto has never developed into the superstar some had predicted, but he has improved each season, and should be a good second or third option in your fantasy rotation.

Profile: What is Johnny Cueto's ERA his past 57 starts? 2.58. The Reds ace has turned into a legitimate Cy Young candidate by doing an incredible job of keeping the ball in the ballpark in one of the more hitter-friendly stadiums in the league. Cueto will look to pick up right where he left off last year, as he posted a career-best strikeout rate, walk rate, and innings pitched. Cueto's great numbers are not backed by gaudy strikeout totals, which hurts him in fantasy rankings compared to many of his peers, but he seems to be a continually undervalued asset in fantasy formats. Waiting on pitching and drafting Cueto as your top starter is certainly a strategy worth considering, as he pitches for a team that could lead the National League in wins and has one of the game's top defenses behind him, despite the new outfield alignment. As a pitcher who pitches to contact more than most Cy Young candidates, having top-tier defenders scattered across the field is a luxury. His changeup has added a new dimension to his arsenal as he increased the usage to a career high rate, so the increased strikeouts could be here to stay if he relies on his changeup as heavily as he did last year. (Ben Duronio)

The Quick Opinion: Johnny Cueto has elevated his game to a whole new level over the past two seasons, and in his first season with 200+ innings pitched he showed what he is truly capable of. With his changeup pumping up the strikeouts, Cueto should be one of the top pitchers off the board and could be a 20-game winner this season.

Profile: The lat injury will likely scare many away, but savvy owners have the opportunity to look past the injury red flags. Consider this: despite the strained lat, his velocity remained in line with his 2012 numbers, his strikeout rate didn't decrease, his swinging-strike rate increased and Cueto compiled a sub-three ERA for the third-consecutive season. The standard concerns that arise during injury-plagued seasons didn't appear. Furthermore, the right-hander returned to the Reds' rotation in late September after an extended absence and didn't experience any velocity loss, which once again lessens the post-injury anxieties. Johnny Cueto owns a 2.61 ERA in his last 433.2 innings, and much of that can be attributed to a vastly improved change up. His swinging-strike rate on that change up increased to 21.2% last season. He's a bona fide potential top-10 starter when healthy. The injury will ensure that he won't be valued as such on draft day, which opens an opportunity for intelligent owners to swoop in and acquire a potential bargain ace. (JP Breen)

The Quick Opinion: Some fantasy owners may back away from Cueto on draft day due to his missing 10 weeks with a lat injury, but the stellar results continued on the mound. The right-hander appears poised to return to his 2012 form, in which he was a top-10 fantasy starter.

Profile: There is something admirable and yet maddening about a pitcher like Johnny Cueto. He knows all the tricks and, when you add his great love of shenanigans to his stuff and raw skills, you get one of the best pitchers in the National League. Cueto is really good at keeping runs off the board. He doesn't have the shiniest underlying stats or pop radar guns with his fastball velocity, but he gets it done. He changes his tempo on the mound and keeps hitters off-balance brilliantly. Cueto disguises his pitches and, in 2014 in particular, earned more called strikes than any other pitcher in baseball. His 25% strikeout rate was the highest of his career and ranked tenth among qualified starters. Even if Cueto gives back some of those called strikes and his strikeout rate shrinks, he still has a great defense behind him and that knack for holding runners, claiming the third highest strand rate since 2011. Cueto is an ace heading into free agency, so a big walk year is very much to his benefit. He's crafty before his time and, right now, he's one of the best starters in baseball. (Drew Fairservice)

The Quick Opinion: The Reds ace mixes great stuff with an unconventional approach to produce some of the best starter numbers in the game.

Profile: The Johnny Cueto whom the Royals acquired for prospects at the trade deadline was decidedly not the Johnny Cueto they'd hoped to acquire. Cueto suddenly lost two strikeouts per nine, had public communication issues with catcher Salvador Perez, and lost his swagger on the mound. Those 17 starts didn't deter the Giants from spending $130 million on the 29-year-old Dominican, though, and they shouldn't deter you from believing in Cueto moving forward. There were a couple minor injury scares in 2015, but Cueto never hit the disabled list, and the fact that we haven't heard anything about it in the offseason means there's no reason to expect Cueto will be anything but healthy entering 2016. And a healthy Cueto is a good Cueto. His 2.71 ERA over the last five seasons is bested only by Clayton Kershaw, among starters with at least 500 innings in that span. He did the majority of that in Cincinnati's hitter-friendly ballpark, and not only is Cueto now back in the comfort of the National League, but he's got the massive outfield of AT&T Park behind him and will throw to a great receiving catcher in Buster Posey. Expect Cueto to look much more like the Reds version than the Royals version. (August Fagerstrom)

The Quick Opinion: Cueto frustrated Royals fans during his time in Kansas City and will look for a new start in San Francisco. Despite his brutal second half, his year-end line still resulted in a four-win pitcher, and the 3.44 ERA with which he finished 2015 could be viewed as a worst-case scenario for 2016.